Friday, September 13, 2013

Fried Cornbread Cakes

Mmmm, don't these crispy critters look good!

I was sitting around thinking the other night how much I love cornbread. There's Cornbread, Sausage Cornbread, Mexican Cornbread, Cracklin Cornbread, Broccoli Cornbread, etc, etc. I believe I have eaten cornbread just about every way they is.

I have given y'all some great cornbread recipes in the past, so I thought I'd experiment with some fried cornbread for this post. I call them cakes because they're round and about an inch thick, they're about the size of a biscuit. They are lovely, crispy on the outside. I guess you could call them pones. Not sure about cornbread etiquette.

I looked at some recipes and decided to make my own recipe up, starting with my cornbread recipe and then go from there. I love using yellow cornmeal, you don't have to, but I think it tastes better.

I actually did not use my cast iron skillet for this, but next time I make them, I think I might. You will need a portion scoop or what you might call an ice cream dipper, plus you'll need to get your hands greasy. Here we go…

Ingredients

2 cups self-rising yellow cornmeal

2 eggs

2/3 cup buttermilk

3 tbs vegetable oil

1/4 tsp Tony Chachere's

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 - 1 cup Crisco Shortening

Preparation

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, add buttermilk, eggs, and oil and mix using a pastry blender. I usually use a whisk for my cornbread but this is much more dense. Spray your skillet with cooking spray, add 1/2 cup of Crisco Shortening, and bring up to MED/HI heat. Test a small bit of the dough in the grease to see if it's hot enough.

Spray a little cooking spray on your hands and be ready to roll! Using the ice cream dipper, scoop out a portion of the dough and roll it into a ball between your hands. It should be slightly bigger than a golf ball. Next, pat it out flat about the size of a Pringles can lid. Sorry these measurements aren't very precise.

Fried Cornbread Cakes getting all crispy

Ease these little guys into the hot oil/shortening one at a time until your skillet's full. I say ease them because you dont want to break them or splatter yourself with the hot grease. Let them go for a minute or two on each side, making sure they are brown and crispy on both sides. They will double or triple in thickness. This batch makes about 10 "pones", my skillet held 5.

Fry them in 2 batches, letting them drain on a paper towel on a paper plate. You will have to add the remaining 1/4 cup of shortening to the skillet to do the other batch. Let it melt and get up to temp before resuming your frying.

All the recipes I looked at added sugar. As you probably know, I am a child of the South, and eschew sweet cornbread, unless it is for a special dish or variety. You can spread a little honey butter on these or some maple syrup, I suppose. I think they're best dunked in a frosty glass of milk.

Give this recipe a try when you can, I think your family and tastebuds will thank you. These would also be wonderful with collard greens, stewed cabbage, or brown beans. A few slices of vine ripened tomato would also be in order.